The City of Santa Monica has awarded Clean Energy Fuels Corp. a multiyear liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract to fuel its Big Blue Bus (BBB) fleet vehicles.
The five-year deal, worth an estimated $3 million per year, will enable BBB to continue using Clean Energy’s Redeem brand of renewable natural gas (RNG), which Clean Energy says is rated up to 90% cleaner than diesel. BBB began using Redeem in January 2015.
According to Clean Energy, BBB will become one of the first agencies to incorporate the new Cummins-Westport 8.9L ISL G Near-Zero 0.02 NOx engine, the first mid-range engine in North America to receive emission certifications from both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) that meet the 0.02 g/bhp-hr optional Near Zero NOx Emissions standards.
The Big Blue Bus fleet includes 200 natural gas buses and plans to replace over 100 of their existing bus engines with the new Near-Zero natural gas engine over a three-year period. According to Clean Energy, this transition will allow BBB to reduce its NOx emissions by over 90% and its greenhouse-gas emissions by 8,000 metric tons, annually.
The new Cummins ISL G 8.9L Near Zero 0.02 NOx engine, which is currently available on the market today, is designed for medium-duty truck, urban bus, school bus and refuse transportation. Further, Clean Energy asserts that Cummins-Westport will begin delivering an 11.9L version that is also EPA- and CARB-certified for the heavy-duty trucking industry in 2018.
Through this commitment, clean-burning RNG and the new 0.02 NOx engine will power BBB’s entire fleet.
